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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828212">blood stained sheets</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/leejenos/pseuds/leejenos'>leejenos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Vampire, Biting, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood Play, Doyoung is Jeno's TA and also a Vampire, Gore, Graphic Description, Human/Vampire Relationship, Jeno centric, Love Confessions, M/M, Mates, Vampire Bites, Vampires, but like only for a second, human!jaemin, ok i think that's it, there isn't full smut but the biting is sexy, vampire!jeno</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:42:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,668</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/leejenos/pseuds/leejenos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s covered in blood, that’s the first thing he notices. Thick, red, sweet. </p><p>-</p><p>Or: Vampire!Jeno Fic</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung &amp; Lee Jeno, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>104</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>blood stained sheets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Pinterest Board for this work: https://pin.it/1cPZkOP</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He’s covered in blood, that’s the first thing he notices. Thick, red, sweet. He finds himself running fingers across his own chest, catching the small clots formed there. His hands are in his mouth before he even realizes, only noticing as the viscous iron touches his tongue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants</span>
  </em>
  <span> to throw up. Rationally, he knows he should feel like he’s about to be sick just from the sensation. Instead he reaches for more, can’t help himself from reaching for more. He wipes his mouth so as not to waste any of the precious substance and continues until all that’s left is dried up crust that he cannot consume.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he’s not satiated and terrified that he never will be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right now though, it’s seven in the morning and he has to clean up - which means a shower and throwing away sheets that will never wash out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It isn’t until he’s in his bathroom that he even realizes that it’s his own blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lee Jeno lives a boring life. Goes to class on weekdays, stops by the library or a cafe to do homework, returns to his small apartment afterward. Goes out with friends on the weekends, checks out new bars, goes to clubs, returns to his small apartment afterward. Sometimes, he finds Jaemin sleeping on his couch (he’d made him give him the lock code within the week of Jeno moving in - ‘Just in case, Jeno~’ ‘Sure Nana, just in case you need to escape your shitty dorm.’).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a normal weekend, he and his friends are checking out a new club a few neighborhoods away from his apartment; It’s close enough that he knows he can save the money on an Uber and walk home after. The club isn’t the problem - it’s the same as any other club with music loud enough to wreck his eardrums and drinks that are more mixer than liquor. He dances with a few people - nothing serious and no type in particular. It is like it always is: Mark and Donghyuck separating off quickly, Lucas and Renjun at the bar, him by himself. Jaemin’s at the library finishing a paper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he checks his watch, it’s much later than he expects and closer to morning than night. He says his goodbyes - Mark and Donghyuck seemingly gone to everybody but each other, Lucas and Renjun planning to leave after another drink - and starts to walk back to his small apartment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a lot darker than he’d thought it’d be. The street lights above him are dead like someone had purposely smashed them in. He chalks it up to kids with baseballs or bulbs that blow as they age and doesn’t think of them any longer. Besides, he has his phone if it gets dark enough that he really needs a flashlight to see.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno’s never really been perceptive to the things around him, often lost in his own little world. His tipsy brain doesn’t help either. So he doesn’t notice the eyes on him - watching, hunting. He just continues walking and he’s so close. His apartment building is in sight when it happens.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hair is yanked back, a hand covers his mouth, and he’s pulled into an alley. He wants to yell, scream for help. But the hand cuts him off and the stores nearby are closed anyway. He’s thrust against a wall, back stinging from the impact. The hand that was covering his mouth moves to hold him down by the shoulder. The other hand stays in his hair, pulling his head to the side and baring his neck and jaw. Then the figure moves out of the shadows and into the flickering light above them where Jeno can see the man for all he is. There are dark veins reaching down from his eyes and a predatory expression that makes Jeno freeze where he stands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite that, for just a moment, Jeno thinks he recognizes him. However, he’s drunkenly distracted from the thought by the fact that the man is, otherwise, unearthly beautiful. It’s not a thought he wants to have about someone who’s clearly trying to mug him but it’s so true that it’s impossible to ignore. His eyes smoke with mystery, some kind of seriousness that Jeno can’t place, and his lips are red as if tinted with cherry. His black hair is perfectly styled and he’s wearing clothes that can only be designer. He doesn’t look like someone who would need to mug anyone. Maybe it’s for kicks, Jeno thinks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He probably should be a lot more afraid than he is - but the eye contact of the stranger feels like it’s forcing him to keep his cool. He can’t cry out - even with the hand gone, even if he wants to. Why is this happening to him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is for your own good, Jeno. A gift, if you would.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man speaks like it’s an absolute truth before sinking his teeth into Jeno’s neck. He feels a piece of his throat ripped away, blood quickly covering his body as it pours out. He tries to gasp for air, anything to take away the pain, but instead of oxygen he is met with skin against his mouth. He’s forced to drink the blood that spills down his throat. The wrist and blood belong to the man currently drinking from him. A sleepy haze comes over Jeno as he begins to pass the edge of consciousness, losing too much blood to keep his eyes from closing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno passes out soon enough after, still wondering why it has to be him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The memories of the night before hit him as he gazes into the bathroom mirror and reaches for his own neck. Not even a scar left over, he would assume it was all a dream if he wasn’t looking at himself covered in his own blood. With the memory and the over-familiar scent it radiates, there’s no way the red substance could belong to anyone else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno stares at himself in the mirror and barely recognizes his own features. He’s pale like it’s still a frosty winter instead of having the tan that follows summer break. His eyes could almost be the same color but tinted a bit red. It’s like he’s wearing contacts instead of the normal, deep brown he’s used to. The rest of his face is covered in blood that still needs to be washed off. His dark brown hair, too, is caked in blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets in the shower without checking the temperature and without taking off his clothes. Peeling them away once he’s under the stream of water, he knows the outfit from the night before is no longer wearable and better off in the trash. He watches the water spill down the drain until it’s no longer tinged crimson. A few minutes of clear water later, he steps out and reaches for a towel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he’s drying himself off, he tries to decide where to go from here but he’s too overwhelmed to even think without his mind getting clouded with the desire to drink. And it scares him, terrifies him. He’s hungry but not for anything in his kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck is happening to me?” Jeno mutters as he returns to his room, pulling on fresh clothes and stripping the ruined bedding from his mattress. His comforter is gone, sheets too - but at least the mattress isn’t completely ruined. He can’t afford a new one anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But why is he worrying about a mattress right now when he’s pretty sure he died last night? Or at least he should have. He tries to pull back the curtains to prop open a window and air out the smell - he feels like he’ll go crazy any minute if he continues to be surrounded by the concentrated taste. The bright sun stings his eyes more than usual. He looks away before it can actually hurt badly, it’s like he’s hungover but he hadn’t really drank </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> much last night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It isn’t until he turns away that he notices the matchbook on his side-table. Jeno doesn’t smoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The book feels empty, like someone’s already used up all the matches. Just trash left here. He flips it over and sees an address to a restaurant closeby, and opens it to see a cramped message scribbled inside:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Meet me here. ASAP. Wear sunglasses, a mask too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know who left this here, maybe it was Jaemin. But had it been there before he left for the club? He knows if Jaemin had come over while he was asleep in his own blood he would’ve been shaken awake in worry instead of on his own. It must’ve been whoever carried him back to his bed - the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Never in his life did he want to trust the person who’d hurt him like this - but did he have a choice? He’s starting to feel excruciating pain in his gums, like when his wisdom teeth grew in but so much worse. He knows none of this is normal  and he still doesn’t think there’s any other way to figure out what’s happening to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno does as the matchbook says, putting on sunglasses and a mask. Last minute, he tosses a hoodie over his t-shirt and a baseball cap over his dark hair as he leaves the apartment. He probably looks like a creep to anybody else but he doesn’t want anyone to recognize him going to whatever this sketchy restaurant is - </span>
  <em>
    <span>like, what places even give out matches anymore?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>On his way to the elevator, he carries several garbage bags - full of the blood stained clothes, bedding, and paper towels he used to clean up. He makes a note to replace everything before he returns to his apartment. As he gets into an empty elevator, through the closing doors he notices Jaemin getting out the other and prays that the blond boy doesn’t see him as they close completely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Na Jaemin, his best friend. They’d met the first day of college - Jaemin’s hair had been a light brown then and they were in the same gen-ed psychology class. They’ve been inseparable since and hardly spend more than a few days apart. Jeno’s watched Jaemin’s hair go from that light brown to black to icy white to, most recently, a soft pink. But today’s color is new - the pink has been stripped back to its pale base and most of it is toned to an ashy blond. However Jaemin, always one to stand out (as if he needs to try), has also painted a striking dark blue patch in the front of his bangs. It looks good on him but so do most things. It’s a power he has over Jeno, to always draw the older boy’s attention back to him… and, honestly, Jeno can’t be convinced that Jaemin ever looks anything other than perfect - and he’s seen the boy drool on his couch cushions before. He realizes that Jaemin must be trying to surprise him by showing up so early - it was Saturday and they usually spend their weekend afternoons walking through the park together or watching shitty b-movies or just sitting together and catching up about the last week.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno feels himself untense, suddenly thankful that he’d had enough sense to clean up before he left. Jaemin would’ve probably called the cops, or worse Donghyuck, if he’d seen the apartment empty and bloody without him in sight. As he drops his shoulders, he notices that he hadn’t tried to hold his breath - hasn’t actually let out a breath since he woke. His chest moves up and down, but mostly from muscle memory and less from the need for oxygen. He already knows something’s wrong with him but he fears that it’s far worse than he expected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He bolts out of the elevator as soon as it touches the ground floor. He can’t chance running into Jaemin again if the boy decides to leave the apartment when he doesn’t find Jeno there. Tossing the garbage down the lobby shoot, he walks out into the street as quickly as he can without causing more suspicion than someone dressed up like winter in the still warm September air already would. He walks a few blocks before the smells get really bad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By bad he doesn’t mean that the scents are unpleasant, quite the opposite actually. They smell </span>
  <em>
    <span>delicious</span>
  </em>
  <span> causing warm saliva to fill his mouth as they get stronger and stronger. He assumes the smells are the reason for the mask. The sunglasses are already keeping his eyes from stinging like earlier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He follows the map he opened on his phone in the elevator. He only has a few more streets to pass before he gets there. So close again, he won’t let himself be stopped or get caught like the night before. He resists the urge to follow the scents, refuses to give into their siren call. He’s just reaching his breaking point when he makes it to the restaurant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s a small mom-and-pop ramyeon shop that blends in just enough to the rest of the shops on the street. The sign is old with hangul characters starting to peel off and the inside has very few customers - an old man sitting alone at a table that could only hold two anyway and another - clearly younger - man, turned away from him sitting at the bar next to the open kitchen. The smell of the food clouds the ones that were distracting him so much before. He feels drawn to them in the same way, less so, but it’s still there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the man at the bar turns around, Jeno feels like he should run away. It was the man from last night and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>right - he does recognize him. Sending him a large, gummy smile from across the restaurant is the TA from his historical literature seminar, Kim Doyoung.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung stands up, leaving his half-eaten noodles behind him as he walks toward a beaded doorway that sits under an </span>
  <b>Employees Only</b>
  <span> sign. He beckons Jeno over exasperatedly when the younger boy doesn’t immediately follow after him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Jeno. You’ve come this far, might as well figure out why,” Doyoung pays no mind to the other patron who in turn pays no mind to Doyoung as he speaks loudly across the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno weighs his options, ultimately giving in as he feels the ache in teeth grow stronger again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung leads him through the back section of the kitchen to another door that’s much nicer - newer too - than the rest of the place. It must lead to what Jeno can only assume is the restaurant’s basement. He hesitates again. Following Doyoung is out of his comfort zone enough, he isn’t sure he can make his feet move to step into the unknown again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, come on. It isn’t like I’m going to kill you,” Jeno is pretty sure he hears a soft </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘again’</span>
  </em>
  <span> under the older’s breath but he’s distracted from the thought as Doyoung pulls him by the hand down the stairs. Even the stairs seem grander, more like they’re from a new-age start-up building or an upscale restaurant than the small, modest shop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno, who expects a dingy basement with a storeroom for extra vegetables and a shelf of cleaning products, is thrown completely when he sees what looks like a club. A velvet couch runs around the edge of the room and plush carpet covers the floor. There are small tables that wrap around with the couch as well as standing tables in the center of the room. Everything is a deep red, purple, black or at least seem so by the mood lighting that Jeno would normally have difficulty seeing in. The room is far larger than the small restaurant above them and stretches out further where he can see a bar and doors leading to private rooms that couples move in and out of.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s surprised by the amount of people down here as they frequently pass each other, moving about the room freely. Dozens of them, he stops counting when he notices the eyes on him. Their faces are beautiful and captivating in the same way Doyoung had looked the night before. But, he can move of his own volition this time and doesn’t feel helpless or stuck in place. It’s like the power they hold isn’t something that can affect him anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung walks him to the bar as the other patrons look away, no longer interested after the first few seconds. He gestures for Jeno to take a seat, who does so tentatively. Doyoung looks at the bartender who regards him with familiarity and pours something without the older boy having to ask. The bartender looks at Jeno expectantly who shakes his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m good, thank you,” He looks back at Doyoung as what can only be described as a glass goblet is placed in front of his TA. Inside sloshes a thick, red liquid which Jeno finds both alluring and appalling. Doyoung takes a small sip before he regards Jeno with more direct attention than he has so far.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So have you figured it out yet or are still denying it?” Doyoung is blunt as always. Quick to point out issues with his rhetorical analysis in class and quick to point out Jeno’s own fears right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what you mean,” Jeno looks away, regretting the action as he sees two men on the middle of the couch. The couple - a taller man and a shorter one - aren’t discreet in their actions. Jeno watches as the tall man relaxes back into the soft velvet as the smaller man straddles his thighs with his face buried into the other’s neck. He would assume they were just making out if he didn’t see the blood that drips from the shorter man’s mouth as he moves back to kiss his companion. The taller grasps tightly onto his hips then, paying no mind to the gore he must taste as he continues holding the shorter man close. Jeno looks away before the couple can catch him staring - though he’s pretty sure they wouldn’t mind the audience.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s hard to look away isn’t it?” Doyoung is tracing a finger around the rim of his glass, “Ten, the shorter one, and Johnny, the one he’s absolutely </span>
  <em>
    <span>mauling</span>
  </em>
  <span>, love putting on a show. Especially so when a newbie shows up.” Doyoung chuckles before making eye contact with the taller man, Johnny, who just smirks at the two of them before returning his attention to his lover.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno understands now that this is a trap that Doyoung has set, a spider waiting for his prey. He wants to watch as the younger comes to the realization himself, “No, I wasn’t looking! I just- I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stares at Doyoung’s glass now. Something about it is still so tempting; he’s sure he could drain the cup in seconds if he got his hands on it. He flinches at the idea of drinking whatever was staining that glass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I have to spell it out for you? You know, Jeno, I thought you were smarter than this but you’re beginning to frustrate me. Stop denying it and just accept the truth. You knew what was happening the moment you woke this morning and felt the hunger.” Doyoung looks at him with murder in his eyes, “Say it. What’s happening to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m becoming a vampire, aren’t I?” Jeno feels like this must be some practical joke as he looks back at Doyoung.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Doyoung’s response is simple and not at all what Jeno expected. He finally breaks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes? That’s it? Doyoung, what’s going on? There’s no way this can be real, I’m dreaming! Vampires aren’t real. This must be a fucking joke,” Jeno refuses to accept this answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know fully well what the truth is, Jeno. You’re not as dense as you’ve been acting and you know there’s no other explanation for all that you’ve seen today. For everything you’ve experienced, tasted, wanted. Accept that vampires are real - that you are one of us - and I can help you move forward.” Doyoung’s baiting him. He needs the younger boy to come to terms with his fate so he can teach him more than the old stories from his textbooks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If it’s all true then tell me - why me? Why not someone else - anybody else?” Jeno’s voice is smaller than it’d been all day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because you were always meant to be one of us. It was clear the moment you walked into the lecture hall on that first day,” Doyoung uses a finger to lift Jeno’s face to look at him again. “You were weak, do you remember? You always have been.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno feels like his entire life is somehow on display for the older boy. He’s only told a few people about being young and sick without any reason other than the fact that it was happening. He was in high school when it started - the fatigue, the way his body slowly started to fall apart. He’s lucky he’s even made it to college. It’s why he sticks to his routines - moving slowly on weekdays and saving his energy for the weekends so as to not worry his friends. But it isn’t going to last much longer, it’s catching up to him and he knows that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung ignores Jeno’s inner monologue and presses forward with the explanation he had asked for:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Some of us change on our own. We reach the end of adolescence and our bodies accept the diversion from human to something much stronger. But those cases are rare, very few of us have ever had the strength to change on our own like that. Most are simply changed by careless vampires who drink from strangers and leave them close to death but not enough. We can drink without changing someone but we must be careful that we don’t take too much. If we take enough from a human, it can spark the change. It’s a bit of a gamble for it to occur with that method, often hard to stop drinking once we’ve taken that much anyway. To be candid though, it’s happened enough now that we’ve started to keep records on non-biological changes. Younger vampires have become much more careless than their elders.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno files away Doyoung’s swap from ‘we’ and ‘us’ to ‘their’ and the question of just how old Doyoung really is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m approaching my 932th birthday in a few months,” Doyoung interrupts Jeno’s thoughts again, “And no, I can’t read minds but you should never play poker. Your face gives everything away the moment you think about anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno looks at Doyoung again. How could someone who looks so young have lived for so many years? How many nations has he seen rise and fall? Where was he when every historical moment occurred over the last millennium?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, ah, ah. You’re skipping too far ahead. Weren’t you so curious before as to why you were changed?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With that, he’s pulled back to the situation at hand and questions are quickly foregone to place his entire attention on the man in front of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The last way to undergo the change - what’s happening to you, my dear - is also quite rare. I’ve only seen it a handful of times in my life and most of them you’ve already met.” Jeno furrows his eyebrows at that, he’s pretty sure he would remember if he’d met a vampire before last night. Again, Doyoung persists:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your body was too weak to accept its own vampire genes - attacking the DNA that already existed as part of your biology. You were meant to be stronger and healthier than anyone else you’ve ever met… and yet your body wouldn’t comply with its own genetic coding. If you weren’t aided in the change, you would have died before the end of the semester.” Doyoung pauses as Jeno looks like he might be sick, “I waited as long as I could to confirm my suspicions, even placed some vampires who’d gone through the same change into your life to watch you. Didn’t you ever wonder how you became friends so quickly with Donghyuck? Renjun? It wasn’t an accident. In fact, it was completely planned. Right down to the club you attended last night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno doesn’t know how to process this much information at once. His friends aren’t really his friends and everything he thinks he knows is fake. And, really he should have known. He’d been so surprised when they’d approached him, just a few weeks into the semester - inviting him to lunch, to do homework together, hang out on the weekends. It was too good to be true and now he knows it isn’t real and never has been.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They never were my friends at all, were they?” Jeno resigns himself to the truth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quite the opposite actually,” Doyoung says it like he’s saying the sky is blue. “They were only meant to watch you: observe and determine if you were one of us. But they couldn’t stay away - were pulled into your orbit as you became someone they very quickly cared about. They’ve been quite protective of you as we’ve discussed the details of your changing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So then why you? Why did you change me and why didn’t you just tell me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We couldn’t tell you, no one could. We couldn’t risk the truth of our existence getting out - not with prying ears and careless mouths. No one thought you’d reject the change or try to spill the truth to others, but again, it wasn’t a risk anyone was willing to take. We agonized over the decision since that first day I saw you.” Doyoung finishes his drink, pushing the goblet back to the bartender. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And as to why it had to be me? I’m the oldest of any of the covens on the continent right now - and one of the few who </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>changed on their own. Taeyong and Kun, the only others who’ve done the same, are away on business in America. Our blood is needed to jumpstart dormant genes like yours, forcing them into overdrive and accepting the change it was previously rejecting. I was the only one here with enough power, and self-control at that, to change you. It had to be me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno only then realizes, now that he’s not obsessing over the new features of his own body, that he isn’t in pain. He’s only known pain for the last seven years of his life and suddenly he feels like he can do anything he wants.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Doyoung continues to explain his future to him for the next few hours until the sun is setting on the street as Jeno walks back to his apartment - sunglasses off in the twilight, mask on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes, immortality is real and he has it. No, drinking animal blood isn’t an option. Yes, the smells he’s been attracted to are people. No, he won’t always have fangs pointing out - they retract. Yes, his friends will still be his friends, even more so now. No, the sun and garlic won’t kill him (the sun will just bother his eyes a little, and garlic will give him agita). Yes, he can still eat food and sleep if he wants to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As his feet hit the pavement, he thinks of the last important thing Doyoung had mentioned. After going through all of the basic details (how often to feed, how to deal with not aging, what to expect moving forward), he answers Jeno’s last question.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“If Donghyuck and Renjun are vampires, what are Mark and Lucas?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s a simple question with a complicated answer: They aren’t vampires themselves, they don’t have to be. Bonded to their mates, the humans won’t age in the same way a vampire won’t. These bonds are another rare existence; something vampires have the chance to form just once. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It can only be with the person who offers them their first feeding - it must be the very first drop they have and must be given to them freely. The human has to then take but a taste of the vampire’s own blood to seal their fate. Vampires can’t just bite someone and feed them their blood - the bond won’t form. It must be consensual and given - a promise. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In this exchange for eternal life and companionship, the vampire may then only feed on their mated human for the rest of their existence. Their lives are completely intertwined from that moment forward - as if they’d want it any other way.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My question for you then, Jeno, is: have you fed?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He hasn’t fed yet. He’s only eaten what was left of his own blood - which doesn’t count according to Doyoung, who chuckled at the thought. He mentioned something about it being familiar to Jeno’s veins already.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he enters his own apartment building, Jeno thinks heavily about the implication of creating a bond. He doesn’t even know if there’s anyone in his life that he wants to have around forever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well actually, there is one person. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he can’t just ask him. Trying to explain all of this in the few hours left before his body would </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> to feed or die, he couldn’t force anyone to make that decision - to leave everything else behind. Sure, Jeno was alone - his parents had died before he’d turned 10 - but </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> has a family, friends, everything. Jeno can’t ask him to just give it up for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wishes he could, wishes it was even an option. Jeno is in love with him and has been for three years now. Deep down in the heart, the place where he keeps his most hidden thoughts, he knows that no matter how long he lives, even if it is eternity, he’ll never stop loving this boy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boy who knows the code to his apartment and sleeps on his couch. The boy whose hair changes color every few months just to keep Jeno on his toes. The boy who’s the first to treat him like he’s worth more than being a burden for being sick so often.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno resolves himself to being alone forever - the price to live past the next month. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Given the option though, he’s not sure anymore if he would choose what promises to be a lonely immortality for one last month pretending that they would grow old together.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno expects to be alone when he gets to his apartment. It’s around dinnertime and he’d opted to go buy new bedding before returning home. But after he punches in the code to his door, he smells him. He drops the bedding in the hallway and tosses the blood bag Doyoung had sent him home with (‘No matter what, you have to feed before the first 24 hours are up.’) into the fridge, paying it no mind as he follows the boy’s scent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s sweet and soft, like baby powder and fresh morning dew. He takes in a deep breath, for the first time today feeling like he might be able to actually breathe again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unlike everything he’d encountered earlier on the street, it calms him down almost immediately. He doesn’t want to just drink from its source and be done, he couldn’t because he would always want more. The urge to feed isn’t carnal - it’s emotional and takes over his whole body with need. He just wants to have it with him always. He just wants to have </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> always.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno walks into the living room, where the scent is coming from. Jaemin is asleep on his couch, cuddled up with a throw pillow and drooling just a little. He must’ve been here all day, waiting for him to come home. Jeno sighs, </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span>, softly carding through the sleeping boy’s hair. He gets a blanket from the other side of the couch and drapes it over the boy before going to pick up everything he’d dropped at the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s just done with making the bed, new sheets and comforter replacing the blood covered ones that still fill his mind when he notices the time. He’s only got a little over an hour until he needs to feed. For a moment, he considers just passing the deadline and letting himself go. He was prepared to die already, it’ll just be a little sooner than expected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head, he can’t do that to Jaemin. He doesn’t know how it would actually end for him if he doesn’t drink and he won’t let the other boy wake up to find his body anyway. So, really, he has to drink. Even if it means being alone for the rest of, well, ever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least he’d get to see Jaemin grow old: graduating college, becoming a teacher like he planned, meeting someone and settling down, having kids, grandkids. Of course, Jeno would have to watch from afar. If he’s lucky he’ll have three or four years left before he has to fade out of Jaemin’s life. Sooner or later, he would notice that the older isn’t aging. Probably sooner - Jaemin’s smart like that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He fights the urge to yell out of frustration and makes his way to the kitchen. He stands in front of the open fridge for a few minutes, holding the bag in his hand and just staring at the blood. He wants it, of course he does - he’s basically starving. But at the same time, he knows it’ll never taste as good as he wants it to. Not when he knows what he really wants is in the next room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Correction: what he wants is on his way to this room. He hears shuffling feet moving toward where he is, probably searching for some water or maybe he could hear Jeno moving around the kitchen. Either way, Jeno quickly shuts the refrigerator door right before he feels arms wrap around his waist and a head rest against his shoulder blades as Jaemin drapes himself over him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Missed you. Where were you?” Jaemin mumbles into his back, Jeno feels the vibrations throughout his entire body and closes his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was dealing with something, Nana.” Jeno lets himself be held for a minute before he opens his eyes and looks down. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m a fucking idiot.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>He’d shut the fridge door but hadn’t put the blood bag </span>
  <em>
    <span>back inside</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And it’s still in his hands as Jaemin goes to wrap his fingers in Jeno’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you holding?” Jaemin starts to ask as he lifts his head up to see over the other boy’s shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Jeno isn’t fast enough. He thought with his new ‘abilities’ he’d be able to hide it quicker but the surprise beats him out. Maybe he’d found out yesterday that vampires can make people freeze and do whatever they want, but Jaemin has always had that power over him, “It’s blood.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin pulls back, nudging Jeno so he can turn around and he can see the bag in his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you have that?” Jaemin doesn’t look afraid, just confused. He’s always trusted Jeno, the boy has never given him a reason not to, but this is a different level. And his powers over Jeno break through his walls again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leaves the blood on the counter and grabs Jaemin’s hand, pulling the blond back to the couch so he can be sitting when Jeno tells him the truth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a vampire.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno explains everything to him - from the attack last night and waking up in his own blood to Doyoung and the club and their friends. He stops there though. Jeno purposefully doesn’t mention mates because he refuses to get his own hopes up. He tries to focus on his own hands when he finishes talking, trying to keep himself from staring at Jaemin’s neck - he’s getting hungrier the longer he waits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So why don’t you just bite me then?” Jeno lifts his head to where Jaemin is looking at him with genuine eyes. “You’re scared because it’s a stranger’s blood, right? It’ll probably be better to feed on someone you know - at least the first time.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno contemplates telling Jaemin about mates, and what it could mean if he feeds from him, for a few minutes before he decides it’s better to be up front about the situation. It wasn’t fair to keep something that important from Jaemin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, actually, there’s one more thing I haven’t told you, Nana.” Jaemin nods his head, encouraging Jeno to go on. “When a vampire feeds for the first time, they have the opportunity to bond with the person and become their mate. If the person offers up their blood like you just did and then drinks a little bit of the vampire’s blood themselves - they’ll be tied together. For… forever.” He tries to gauge Jaemin’s expression but the boy mostly looks like he’s just taking it all in, so he continues.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As long as they’re together the human won’t age and the vampire can only feed from them. It’s a give and take - but it can only happen at the first bite. Afterwards, a bond can’t form.” Jeno runs his hands through his hair, he can’t believe he’s even explaining this right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And, Nana, I am in no way asking you to do this or feel like you have to because I don’t know how you feel about me or this or anything. And it’s fine, if I only get to be near you for a few more years before I can only watch you grow up from afar. Because you’re my best friend, and I don’t want to take your life away from you. I love you too much for that,” Jeno just lets it all out. He doesn’t have much time left before he needs to feed and he would rather Jaemin know that he’d always have him. Whether it’s 70 years from now when he dies from old age or eternity, he would </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> be there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno isn’t ready for the arms around his neck and the boy in his lap before Jaemin is holding him so impossibly close. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He feels lips peppering kisses across his head as Jaemin travels down Jeno’s face and starts ranting everything on his mind at once, “You idiot. You stupid, stupid boy. Of course I’m not going to let you go through this alone. You’ve had me on your team from the moment you smiled at me on that first day - when I asked if the seat next to you was free. You’ve had my heart for just about as long. You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried,” and finally, he presses his lips against Jeno’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno brings Jaemin closer, getting rid of any space between them as their lips slide together like they were made for each other. After a few minutes, Jeno pulls back and looks deeply into Jaemin’s eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what this means though, right Nana? It’s forever and it’s not something either of us can go back on. You’ll outlive your family, friends, this country probably. It’ll just be us and we’ll have to keep saying goodbye to everything else,” Jeno has to make sure Jaemin understood the decision he’s making.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then at least we’ll be together. Until the very end, Jeno.” He kisses him chaste on the lips again, “Now come on, before it’s too late. I don’t want to lose you ever and especially not right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno lifts him up, peppering his own kisses around Jaemin’s face as the younger boy starts laughing, so overjoyed he can’t keep inside. He walks them to his bedroom, placing Jaemin delicately against the pillows and the boy looks more gorgeous than Jeno’s ever seen before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are these new sheets? Are you sure you want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>ruin</span>
  </em>
  <span> them?” Jaemin asks, making Jeno laugh until he sees the suggestive look in Jaemin’s eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll buy a million new sets of sheets if it means forever with you.” Jeno replies almost immediately, already undoing the buttons of Jaemin’s shirt - it’s his favorite and he cares more about ruining it than his sheets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno’s tossing aside his shirt when Jaemin looks at him again, “You’re so cheesy, now hurry up! We don’t have much more time. Please just - Bite. Me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Jeno is at his neck with one hand under Jaemin’s arched back, the other interlocking their fingers. He kisses his neck a few times and licks at the spot before opening his mouth wide and sinking his teeth in Jaemin’s soft skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Jaemin’s scent is tempting, tasting him is a religious experience. He’s spurred on further by the hand that quickly finds purchase in his hair. Jaemin pulls the locks taut as he lets out soft, breathy moans that are so quiet they’d be inaudible to anyone else - Jeno relishes in knowing that he’s the only one that’ll hear them from now on. He pulls back, licking up the spilt blood down Jaemin’s collarbone before sinking his teeth back in, careful not to take too much. He’s interrupted as Jaemin starts squirming around and moans a bit louder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t- You didn’t tell me it’d feel like this-” Jaemin is cut off as he runs out of breath and the rest of his sentence dies on his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay? Does it hurt? Did I hurt you?” Jeno is quick to pull away from the blond’s neck, looking at his face for any signs of pain or fear, but Jaemin just starts smiling at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it feels </span>
  <em>
    <span>good,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jeno. So good, please never stop. Let me have this forever, please,” Jaemin’s babbling and smiling even wider as he goes on and Jeno couldn’t be more in love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno bites his wrist and offers it to Jaemin, letting the other boy take his hand and drink. Jaemin takes a little more than he needs to, afraid just a taste won’t be enough, but moments later they both feel it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It hits them at the same time, as they look into each other’s eyes it’s like no one else has ever or will ever exist except for them in this moment and every moment to come. Neither of them could be happier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaemin pulls Jeno back to him, slotting their lips together as blood stains the sheets. His neck is covered, messy from the vampire’s excitement and the wound on Jeno’s wrist is forgotten as the older boy kisses Jaemin fiercely, sliding his hands into blond hair and softly scratching his scalp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blood from Jeno’s chin gets all over Jaemin’s face as they kiss and Jeno’s never thought that’d be something that turned him on but, as he’s always known, Jaemin can make anything look downright </span>
  <em>
    <span>delicious</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they continue, blood is painted across not only the sheets but their bodies and the rest of their clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jeno licks over the wound on Jaemin’s neck to keep it from bleeding and stares for a moment, admiring the bruise his bite left. He kisses back up Jaemin’s neck, softly raking his fangs against skin as Jaemin continues to let out those pretty, breathy moans. He presses their mouths together again, pulling away just to smile at the boy he’d get to keep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s late in the night by the time they clean themselves up in the shower, still running on pure giddiness and love. Jaemin, wired from the afternoon nap he took, and Jeno, a literal vampire, know they aren’t going to sleep anytime soon. So they get dressed and walk down the street hand-in-hand to the little restaurant Jeno had been to earlier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He guides Jaemin through the back and down the stairs to the pseudo-club that’s even more full than it was during the day. He spots Doyoung standing by one of the tall tables, a few friendly faces around him. They tentatively walk up to the group, about to introduce themselves when someone beats them to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know we could smell you the moment you walked in here, right?” Renjun scrunches up his nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He means ‘congrats’!” Lucas pulls Renjun back into his arms and pinches the vampire’s side until he offers a half-smile to the new couple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing like the smell of a new bond,” Donghyuck is reaching out for a high-five from Jeno who returns the action, still not sure what he’s talking about. Did they smell different? Donghyuck doesn’t care to explain more as he makes Mark hand him a twenty from his wallet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, I’m new to </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> this. What do you guys mean?” Jaemin smiles but he looks like he’s just trying to hide his confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They mean you guys both smell like fresh blood,” It’s Chenle, the second-year Lit student from Jeno’s class with Doyoung, who puts it so bluntly. Behind him is Jisung, the boy who always sits next to him in class. Now Jeno knows why they always look like they’re goofing off during lectures - they were probably there when most of the texts were written. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing,” Doyoung is the last to address them, “We were all about 90% sure it was going to happen anyway, It’s just been a while since we’ve had a new set of mates. I think the last set was-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was Lucas and I,” Renjun says it quickly and sharply - daring anyone to say something about it. However, he does let the taller boy pull him even closer, settling against his chest like it’s nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A beat passes and everyone laughs anyway. The new couple work themselves fully into the circle as Jeno settles his arms around Jaemin. The conversation starts to flow again with Jeno objecting a few times as Doyoung begins to recount the story of the last day and a half. Because, no, Jeno did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> scream like a baby when Doyoung first bit him.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, I said I'd write a fic where they get a happy ending... I never said it wouldn't be self-indulgent as fuck! Also, I wrote this in one day because it was just IN MY MIND RENT FREE!!!!</p><p>Comments/Kudos are always appreciated :)</p><p>Talk to me!!<br/>Twitter: @420jeno</p></blockquote></div></div>
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